Bavaria's most perfectly preserved medieval walled town — Thirty Years' War survivor
Dinkelsbühl is a small Bavarian town so completely enclosed by its medieval walls and towers that it looks like a fairy-tale stage set. Unlike Rothenburg ob der Tauber (its more famous neighbour), Dinkelsbühl escaped the bombs of World War II and was never rebuilt — what you see are original 15th-century half-timbered houses, a late-Gothic minster, and 18 intact watchtowers. The town is famous for the Kinderzeche festival in July, which re-enacts the legend of the town's children persuading Swedish troops not to sack it during the Thirty Years' War.
Dinkelsbühl received its town charter in 1188 and grew wealthy as a free imperial city on the Romantic Road trading route. During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) it was occupied by both sides seven times; according to local legend, the town was saved from destruction when its children pleaded with the Swedish commander Clauswitz. This story is commemorated every July in the Kinderzeche festival, one of Germany's oldest folk celebrations. The intact medieval wall circuit with its 18 towers and four gates is considered the best-preserved in Bavaria.